Right, you've started your business - congrats! Now, it's time to shout about it, loud and proud! But, now you're faced with an exhausting amount of decisions to make. Should you use social media? Probably. What platforms should I use? What content should I post? Can I use social media to generate leads and ultimately sales? How can I stand out in the saturated sea of social media? Is it worth spending my (limited) free time on social media? 

If you've ever asked yourself any of these questions, then this is for you.

The internet hasn't always been around, of course, so businesses used different marketing tactics to spread the word about what they can offer consumers - there have been print media (newspapers and magazines), and then we had radio adverts, before the rise of televisions in the 1950s - TV became the dominant broadcast medium and one of the most effective ways to advertise your products by filming commercials. 

As we move along the timeline, the introduction of the internet and how it's evolved into what it is today has come about so quickly, and it is still growing so fast. Social media itself, let alone the internet, is changing so rapidly even experts find it difficult to keep up (yes, it's true!). From Twitter becoming X (eeep), to Facebook's algorithm making it difficult for users to see content from businesses (Facebook for business pages has an average engagement rate of 0.5% if you have under 10k followers, which decreases dramatically to 0.06% if you have been 10k and 100k followers) to the rise of short-form content (we're talking Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, and TikTok). Phew! 

With this in mind, should you use social media for your business?

Yes.

End of blog. 

Ha, just kidding. 

Even with the changing algorithms, every expert under the sun offers radically different advice and the saturated sea of people trying to stand out - pick me, algorithm, pick me - I still believe that social media can be a wonderful tool to use for your business and to achieve your goals. However, you've got to come at it from a strategic point of view, rather than just posting some random photos willy-nilly. At the end of the day, as business owners, our time is rather limited, so you want to ensure you're making the most of your time and it's also why social media may seem like it's not worth it. 

Here are some reasons that totally justify setting aside some of your time to create your business' social media presence.

1) Your customers are likely to be on there. 

Social media is EVERYWHERE and it's here to stay. Your target audience is likely to be on at least one social media platform, so what's the harm in creating a presence there in the hopes that you attract the right people?

2) It increases your brand awareness.

Getting your business out there can be tricky nowadays, with the decline in print media and broadcast commercials for small businesses, which is why it's important to utilize social media platforms because a single post can get out there and be viewed by thousands if not millions of people.

3) Cost effective

Organic social media has the POTENTIAL to bring in great returns, often for just your time spent creating the strategy and crafting the content. 

4) Your competitors are on there.

It's always a good idea to keep an eye on businesses that you consider to be competitors and see what marketing they are doing to sell their products. If you're on the same platform, producing better content, then it's a no-brainer.

5) Your competitors are NOT on there.

If your competitor is not on a certain platform, that means it's time to establish your position in your industry as an expert. There is a literal gap in the marketing for you to showcase your services.

There are many more reasons and I can ramble about them all day but I'm trying to keep this blog as short as I can whilst still being able to convey my message. Follow me here for more blogs as I am aiming to write more blogs that can help business owners with their social media.